Loveless 0
by deusprogrammer
Summary: A story of a international country staging a war for profit, and the love story of a man who's long lost love comes back from the dead as an android and eventually becomes human again.
1. Chapter 1

**Loveless 0- Prologue**

_This world we live in…run by greed and mankind's lust for power. As technology grew, there came only new ways to make money and new ways to gain power. And there was no better way to gain money and power than war. If you build the machines that wage the war, you hold the money and the power. What else can you profit from in war? One could profit by quenching the misery of those involved in it. Oh…and how much more money one could make by also simultaneously causing the misery. Hell…how much more power and money you could have if you propagated the war…and fed the fire on both sides…oh how powerful indeed. Those stupid sheep won't even know what they are fighting!_

_-Herr Nachtlichter_

_The year was 4045. Technology hadn't changed very much from today. Computers became smaller and more advanced; our cars became more fuel efficient and much more artistic looking, and robots and bipedal tanks were common place. The Earth was choking to death on the fumes of our factories and the landscape looked more desolate than ever. A world war ravaged the Earth. No one knew what the war was about or why we were fighting. All we knew was what the enemy had taken from us…our loved ones, our homeland. My name is Juno…and New Berlin is my home…although it doesn't feel like home anymore. Everyone I knew or loved is gone. My father went off to work for some company a long time ago and never came back…leaving my mother, sister, and me alone. And then the war came. The enemy…those American bastards…they attacked us in such a way to torture us with loneliness. They attacked with CASKET (Chromosome Activated Silent Killing Eradication Technology) bombs. These bombs chose their targets based on DNA sequences. In our case they decided to kill off all the women. It was awful…no matter how far they ran, or held their breath…they died anyways. My mother died cooking dinner and my little sister died playing with her dolls. They both just fell over as the queer cloud of smoke filled the house. There wasn't even a warning like an explosion, just the aftermath and the scent of death. My mother crumpled in the corner with blood pouring from her nose, with the veins in her face starting to turn purple as the blood came to rest in them. My sister's death was far more disconcerting. Her dolls were covered in dried vomit and blood as she choked on the fumes and died. I wasn't there though…I was with the one I loved. Sethra…the one I was supposed to be with forever. Instead of seeing my family die, I got to see the one I loved most crumple in my arms and die, and ironically I didn't get to go with her. What a cruel joke America played on us…I hate them. They took everything from me, and I had nothing left._

_-Juno Ashguard_

**Loveless 0- Chapter 1: _Tainted Rebirth_**

Juno awoke from his fitful slumber and opened his eyes to the sight of another day of desolation. He no longer lived in the house where he found his mother and sister dead. It was an apartment he leased with the money he had inherited from his mother. He lived in the depths of Neo Berlin where it was safe. Neo Berlin was fortified and protected by the military. The only problem living in the city was the constant stomping of mecha patrolling the streets at night. Juno rarely ever got a good night's sleep…even if the mecha weren't stomping around. But on the plus side the city did have everything he ever needed. There was a small convenience store around the corner, and a little diner he often went to for a bite to eat. Other than that, he spent most of his days at home strumming his guitar or watching TV. His mother's passing had left him with a lot of money, and his father's royalty checks kept flowing in. Juno's father had passed on a whole ago. With no relatives to ask, Juno really didn't know anything about his father other than he used to work for some big company and he had died in an accident on site. Juno really didn't care since he had abandoned him and his sister Verthandi. But he was thankful for all the cash that flowed in from his life insurance and royalty checks. Juno was far too depressed to hold a steady job anyways. The only thing he really wanted to do was to help defeat the American bastards who had taken everything away from him.

His apartment was a simple one bedroom apartment with a dirty kitchen. He very rarely ever cooked. His mother never really got around to teaching him, and his fiancée Sethra always used to cook for him. He looked over at the door to the room he would never open again. It was Sethra's old room. He always kept the door locked. It hurt so much to enter the room he couldn't bring himself to get rid of her old stuff. So he simply kept the door shut and took great offense when people tried to enter or even inquired about what was in the room. His very soul still had a gaping wound from the loss he suffered, and being reminded of what was behind the door was like being doused in salt. He got up and searched his pile of clothing for something clean. Today was one of the few days he would leave his house. Every month he would travel to the cemetery to take care of his family's grave, and to spend some time at Sethra's grave.

Women were completely non-existent after the CASKET bombing occurred. But lately Juno had been noticing something peculiar. Even on his drive out of town, he saw several women walking down the street. But something was odd, their bodies seemed almost too perfect, their hair almost seemed metallic, they seemed…manmade. Which had to be the case…all the women died. It must have been another wonderful creation of the Bitri Corporation. The Bitri Corporation was the inventor of so many wonderful creations. From the mecha roaming our city, to the electronics in our homes…they made everything…and now they were replacing the dead with now cybernetic constructs...god bless the Bitri Corporation. Juno realized of course even owning a robotic vacuum cleaner was out of his price range. Besides that…a machine could never replace what he had lost.

As he approached the grave site he noticed something very wrong. The very pristine gates had been rendered asunder…so much so that he had to enter on foot from that point. He found the small cemetery in ruins; graves were broken and toppled among craters which seemed to be from a stray mortar shell. Once he emerged onto the clearing with his family's graves they were no where to be found. He didn't even have a landmark to distinguish where they were initially. He was so angry and sad at the same time, that his emotions completely cancelled one another out. He couldn't cry and he couldn't scream. He wandered further into the cemetery, and into the woods behind the cemetery to find where he had buried Sethra. Fortunately whatever fighting had gone on hadn't touched the small field in the woods. He knew Sethra would like it here. It was gorgeous; just a small open spot among a sea of trees. He had stayed here until it got dark the night he buried her, and tonight was no exception. There was nothing he could do to ease his suffering. Everything he loved was taken from him in seconds. If he had Sethra back, everything would be okay. He looked to the sky and wondered if God was listening to him. Then in a few moments it started to thunder and pour down raining. "Thank you god" Juno shouted sarcastically to the sky. He then trudged back to his vehicle almost ready to give up. But interestingly, God was listening. God just didn't know if Juno would like his answer.

Back in New Berlin, in a laboratory far from the public eye, the lights flickered as the storm outside raged on. A scientist named Dr. Mulleimer was about to start the programming sequence on the next batch of robots. These robots known as the XX-7 series to the public served many purposes, although they were mainly made as expensive, intelligent sex toys. The lab had a row of eight tubes along the back wall. They were all connected to Dr. Mulleimer's computer by a variety of cables. Hoses connected to different vats of chemicals. Each tube had a frame inside it…a frame of a human being. The skeletal frames were composed of the same alloys used in mecha production, and fitted with a similar intelligence chip. Unfortunately the XX-7 was only really intelligent enough to do what its master told it to do, just like a war mecha would. Dr. Mulleimer checked each tube to make doubly sure that everything was nominal. Normally production would be halted during a storm, but a very urgent order needed to be filled. Dr. Mulleimer tugged on the hoses one last time to make sure the connections were tight and then went back to his computer. "Now commencing skin formation" he recorded on his tape log. With the typing of a command, chemicals started to fill the tubes around the skeletal frames. After a few moments the excess dripped off the frame onto the open space on the bottom of the tube. Another chemical filled the tube to catalyze the skin and make it become a solid instead of a liquid. After the skin had set Dr. Mulleimer went about injecting the simulated fat into the new bodies. He tugged the hose around to each one and started artistically injecting the filling into each one, making it to his client's standards. As he came to the last one he started to inject it. He left his favorite part until last…the chest. He finished the rest of the body and then started the breasts…but to his dismay, the pump had run out of the filling. He picked up the phone and called supplies.

"Supplies!" Mulleimer rattled on the phone.

"Yes sir?" The man on the other end answered.

"We need more XX-7 body filling material up here pronto!" Mulleimer yelled

"I told you earlier sir, we ran out yesterday…what you have there will have to do." The man from supplies said dotingly.

"Damn it! Then how will I finish the last one?" Mulleimer said clearly frustrated.

"Just give it small ones; I doubt the client will care very much."

"But he wanted them big! Oh well, screw it…thanks anyways." Mulleimer said slamming the phone down.

Dr. Mulleimer went back to the tubes and closed them all off again to begin the final processes. A chemical sprayed onto the scalp of the prepared XX-7 models and long white hair grew from the scalps almost instantaneously. Once the hair growing process was done, he proceeded to charge them. The tubes were filled with a particularly shimmering liquid and Dr. Mulleimer pulled a final safety lever to start the process. The once beautiful liquid took on an almost bloody appearance and then faded to the deepest darkest black. With a brilliant crackle of light, the liquid soaked into the prepared frames. Their skin color suddenly came to life and their hair colors all changed in the blink of an eye to a random color. The final XX-7 model's hair had turned a light green. Dr. Mulleimer mused to himself about how much he hated not being able to control hair color. The green haired one would have to have her dyed for the client. He scooted off the office chair to go take his lunch break while everything went through its final procedures. The programming process had begun. The other seven XX-7 models remained perfectly still, but the eighth one seems to struggle as the programming was fed into it. Its eyes flashed open for the briefest of moments, but soon shut again as the programming took control. Dr. Mulleimer smiled and laughed to himself, "Trying to fight the programming…how futile." He grabbed the burrito from his lunch bag and went to the lunch room to throw it in the microwave. He set it to two minutes and pressed start. Just as he pressed start the power went out from the storm. "GOD DAMN IT! MY BURRITO!" he screamed angrily. But the burrito was the least of his worries.

When he returned to the lab to check on the XX-7's after the power came back on, he found the last tube smashed and the window open. The programming had completed on the other 7, but on number 8 the programming had only reached 99. Mulleimer panicked and called security.

"Security! Dispatch a Totenmaschine immediately! One of the XX-7's escaped and its programming wasn't complete! Reclaim it at all costs!" Mulleimer screamed, blasting the phone with bits of half eaten burrito. The green haired robot had already started on its way into the downtown of New Berlin. It was at the time when it walked in front a certain diner that all hell broke loose.

Juno had stopped by his favorite diner on the way back from the cemetery for some chicken friend steak. He was in an even lower mood than usual. Of course everyone was, so no one thought less of him for it. The owner of the diner Al, had just bought one of those new female robots that Juno had seen walking down the street. Juno was slightly envious. The robot really did look just like Al's old wife…a little younger and easier to look at where it counted. But something still didn't seem right about it. It looked like a human, but its eyes lacked any hint of a soul and it's body was pale and cold looking. The eyes were very dull in appearance and they made loud whirring noises when they focused on something else. The voice although very human sometime sounded monotone and sometimes incorrectly changed tone and sounded computerized. But still it was better than nothing for poor old Al. He loved his old lady to death. Juno finished up his meal and headed out. As he was walking out a naked green haired girl ran into him. "Hey watch it!" he said turning in her general direction. As she turned to look at him, he gasped. She looked familiar to him. The girl still continued to run sobbing the whole way. He turned and saw her assailant. A Polzei mecha about one and a half times bigger than him pushed him out of the way, smashing him through the plate glass window of the diner. Al rushed over to Juno helped him up. He looked at Al and apologized for the window. Al didn't blame him…those stupid Polzei mecha were always messing up people's things. But who was that girl he wondered. He walked home in the still falling rain with a slight limp from the hit he had taken from the Polzei robot. When he reached his apartments he saw a hint of green as he ascended the steps. He came back down the steps and found the naked girl he had seen running earlier huddled among the garbage quivering. Juno felt like he was staring a ghost in the face as she looked at him with those purple eyes filled with sadness and fear.

"You are…" Juno started to say.

"My name is Sethra…how may I service you today?" the girl said back to him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Loveless 0- Chapter 2: _Devoid of a Soul_**

Juno stood there in the rain looking at the robot. He felt as if he was going crazy. It just wasn't possible.

"Did you say Sethra?" Juno asked her. The robot nodded emotionlessly. "That's not possible…you're dead." Juno said starting to lose his cool. Juno's eyes started to water as he placed his hands on the robot's shoulders. "But you're a robot…" Juno said. The robot looked seductively at him.

"I'm not just any robot…I can do so many things a robot can't…" she said as she put her arms around him. Juno's eyes opened wide as his emotions conflicted with his logic. Juno pushed her off of him and ran into his apartment, he scrambled for his keys and tried to shove it in the keyhole, but as he fought with the keys the robot had caught up. "That's not very nice…why did you do that? Naughty boy." The naked robot giggled at him. Juno looked at her with fear in his eyes.

"What are you!" Juno said full of fear.

"I am a model XX-7 robot, designed to give companionship to humans. Made by the Bitri Corp." the robot replied.

"Oh…you are one of those huh? But why are you here? I didn't order you." Juno said.

The robot looked puzzled at him and said, "I don't know…this place looked familiar." He knew this wasn't Sethra…but at the same time he didn't care. He just stared at her. The robot looked slyly at him and changed the subject "Aren't you going to invite me in?" Juno just finished unlocking the door, went in and slammed the door locking Sethra out.

He sat down on the couch and heard a gentle tearing noise, and then suddenly the whole door and part of the wall cracked off the wall as Sethra tore the door off.

"What the fuck?" Juno screamed. "Just leave me alone!"

"Why? Am I not pretty enough?" The robot said sitting on the floor and tracing a small circle with her finger.

"No…but why did you rip the door off the wall? Now I have to get it fixed." Juno said.

Sethra looked at it and with a cute grin said "Did I do that?" Then she slammed it back into place. "There good as new!" She said as the drywall cracked around it. Juno just held his head and sat down. Sethra crawled over on all fours and then climbed up on the couch and sat in his lap. Just as Juno was actually starting to relax she pushed him down on the couch. He looked at her and blushed, but almost immediately snapped out of it and pushed her off of him and onto the floor. He sat there breathing deeply and staring at her on the floor. Unlike Sethra, she looked back at him undaunted. "Oh shall I play hard to get?" she chirped back at him. Juno simply looked at her in disgust.

"Wait…you were the girl that bumped into me in front of the diner…" Juno suddenly realized.

Sethra made a silly look and said "Oh that was you, sorry."

"Why was that Polzei mecha chasing you?" Juno questioned. She simply shook her head.

"I came to and I was just running from that big thing…I don't know why they were chasing me. Please don't let them get me…they were trying to kill me" Sethra replied.

Juno felt some sympathy for the robot and continued "Okay…I will hide you for a while. But…do you know where you got your name?" Juno asked.

The robot looked up at him and said, "It's someone you loved right?"

Juno was shocked and asked "Yes…but how did you know?"

The robot clutched her head and replied "I don't know…" Juno went into the room he hated to go into so much and retrieved a picture and handed it to her.

"Does this look familiar?" he said handing her a picture of Sethra. The robot recoiled in horror and screamed loudly clutching her head. Juno got up to help her, but she pushed him away and then collapsed. Juno wondered if it had stopped working. He got up to check her. She appeared to be sleeping. He still realized that she was nude. That wasn't helping matters. He walked back into the dreaded room to get her some clothes. He couldn't just leave her naked. And even if she wasn't really Sethra…she atleast reminded him of her. He gathered some clothes for her and then turned around and saw the robot sitting on the bed brushing her hair just like the original Sethra would do. She looked different. Her skin looked softer and her eyes seemed to glow. "What're you…" Juno started.

Sethra looked up at him and suddenly looked surprised and said with a start, "Juno! What…I…" then she immediately reverted back to her original form. "What do you want master?"

"Did you just say Juno, Sethra?" He asked.

"Is that your name master?" Sethra asked her back.

"It is…but how did you know?" Juno said confused.

"You told me." She replied.

"When?" He asked her back.  
"Just now." She finally said, "So is that what master wants me to call him?" Juno realized that he must have been imagining things. He threw the clothes to her.

"Please put these on Sethra." Juno said.

"Oh you want me to dress up for you master?" the robot chortled.

"Umm…sure…" Juno said walking away. "This will be your room until I figure out what to do with you, I sleep out there."

"You don't want me to sleep with you? That isn't normal. You say you loved this girl, so let me be her." Sethra replied.

Juno looked upset and responded "For the briefest moment, I thought you were…but you are nothing but a horny man's play thing."

Sethra looked confused, "Isn't that what you want me for?"

"No it isn't!" Juno yelled back. "Sethra wasn't like that."

"What was she like?" She inquired.

"She was sweet, her and I never had sex before. We just liked cuddling and just being together." Juno said solemnly.

"I can do that." Sethra said with a smile as she leaned over and held his arm. "Like this?" Juno felt himself melting.

"Yeah…like that…" He said with tears in his eyes.

Sethra paused and looked at him seeing the tears and then said, "Why are you sad master?" Sethra asked.

"Because this isn't real." Juno said accepting fate.

"I am real. I'm just programmed to make you happy. Let me try master." Sethra said smiling.

Juno looked at her in a moment of weakness and said "Okay. Just one thing…call me Juno, not master."

Sethra smiled "Okay Juno, data entry complete. What would you like to do?"

Juno smiled and said, "I am tired…lets go to sleep."

Sethra got in bed without putting on her clothes and said with a naughty grin "Come to bed Juno."

Juno blushed and said "And…put some clothes on for the sake of my balls."

Sethra seemed to comprehend and said "So…no hanky panky?"

Juno laughed and said "No, no hanky panky please."

Sethra looked confused and said "But it is what I am programmed for…"

Juno replied still smiling "But you want to make me happy right?" Sethra nodded cutely. "Then no hanky panky…atleast not yet."

"Tomorrow then?" Sethra asked.

"No silly." Juno said. "You still have a lot to learn."

"I will try my best to be like Sethra Juno." Sethra said smiling.

"Well don't try too hard Sethra. Just be who you want to be. Sethra is dead, you can't possibly be her." Sethra looked down seemingly upset about what Juno just said. "What's wrong Sethra?" Juno asked.

"But…it would make you happier if I was her." She responded.

"Sethra…I don't know what to think. You look just like her and everything, but it's all so sudden. I just found you on my door step, and frankly I'm still uncomfortable with this." Juno said with a frown. "But it is better than being alone…so I want you to stay okay?" Sethra smiled and put on the clothing Juno gave to her.

"But Juno…" Sethra said as she looked up at Juno. Juno looked back at her and cocked his head. Sethra continued "You gave me her clothes…so now I have to be her." Juno looked upset again. This time he said nothing. He simply went to sleep.

"I'm sorry Sethra…but no one could ever replace her. And you are still just a machine." Juno said as he lay down to sleep. Sethra didn't go to sleep though…something clicked in her head. She went to the room that Juno gave her to use. The surroundings were oddly familiar to her. "I'm…home." She said temporarily slipping into another state of mind.

As Juno slept he awoke to the smell of death. He sat up in bed eyes wide open. He stood up and turned on the lights. To his shock he saw his sister standing in front of him, pale and covered in vomit. She was looking down so he couldn't see her face. She suddenly looked up at him with her face contorted in death. Juno fell back and scrambled backwards screaming. He had bumped into the wall and heard an inhuman wailing. As he looked up he saw his dead mother falling from the ceiling wailing indescribably. Juno covered himself with his arms and rolled out of the way. He ran to the door of Sethra's room to go find her to escape. He opened the door and found Sethra's headless corpse waiting behind it. Juno screamed in agony and ran to the front door of his apartment with his undead family still in toe. He struggled with the door as the corpses began to cling to him and try to pull him down. The smell of death was only inches away as he finally got the door open and looked out upon a sea of female corpses. The door closed behind him. He was no longer in an apartment building, but a large rusty room. The smell gagged him so much he threw up all over himself. The room was silent except for an almost inaudible screeching that got louder and louder until it was deafening. Juno clutched his head in pain and started to black out. He looked up at the top of the room and saw the image of a giant body floating above him. A weird light was flowing from the bodies into it. Then Juno opened his eyes again after blacking out…but he was at home. He was sweating profusely and was so frightened he cried out loud. He got up and ran into the room where Sethra lay awake. He climbed in bed and clutched her tightly. Sethra turned around startled. "Juno what…" She started to say.

"Just hold me Sethra…please. Don't leave me!" Juno cried. Sethra didn't say a word, she just held him tightly. Sethra didn't even know what to say. In fact she felt strange. Her programming would normally tell her to do bad things with Juno to make him feel better. But for some reason…she didn't want to. Her programming was almost silent. What was happening?

Sethra held Juno and eventually Juno fell asleep in her arms. His sleep was peaceful though, unlike moments ago. Unfortunately, they didn't know what was approaching outside. Sethra could hear its heavy foot steps. So much for a peaceful night's sleep…


	3. Chapter 3

**Loveless 0- Chapter 3:_ Reversed Roles_**

Sethra sat quietly listening to the heavy stomping going around outside. She looked to Juno and shook him awake. "I think we have company." Sethra whispered.

Juno looked at her half asleep and said "Nah…there are always mecha stomping around town at night." Juno rolled over and went back to sleep, until he heard a knocking on his door. "…that's not normal though…" Juno said as he walked half awake to the front door. He unlocked it and saw a police officer at his door. "What is it? It's like 2 in the morning." Juno said wryly to the officer.

The officer smirked and said in a deep voice, "We are here to reclaim the defective robot you gave sanctuary here."

Juno suddenly looked scared and said, "Robot? What do you mean?"

The police officer spoke more menacingly, "We know it's here, several people said they saw a green haired girl come into the apartment building, and your neighbors heard a woman's voice." The officer also looked at he women's clothing scattered on the couch. "And you also seem to have some woman's clothing there behind you as well. Just give the robot to us, and there won't be any trouble."

Juno quickly tried to play it off and said "Oh those…well it's kind of embarrassing, but I am a transvestite. When my wife died I…" Juno was cut off by a quick jab to the stomach which knocked him out cold on the floor. The officer walked into the house and into the bedroom. Sethra slammed her fist through the door and sent the officer flying backwards into the opposite wall. The officer screamed for backup.

"The XX-7 is acting weird! It's fighting back! I need back up!" the officer screamed into his head set.

"Understood, reclamation is now secondary. Destroy it if it resists." the head set blared back at him. But unfortunately he was in no place to fight back. Sethra came out and looking menacingly at the officer and then picked up Juno and jumped out the nearest window.

"Don't worry Juno, I won't let anyone hurt you." Sethra said as she took off running down the alley. As she approached the end of the alley a slightly larger than human mecha rounded the corner and ordered her to halt. She looked around and only saw a large dumpster and some trashcans. She carefully sat Juno down, and then proceeded to lift the dumpster and launch it at the mecha. The mecha ran to get out of the way and Sethra simply ran the opposite direction. She then ran into a large group of officers who blocked her way, and the robot she had just assaulted with the dumpster was heading back her way. The officers leveled their guns at her and Sethra demurely slipped down her shirt and flashed them. The pent up men lowered their guns just long enough for Sethra to make a mad dash through them scattering them in all directions. Sethra started running away from the apartment complex when Juno woke up.

"Sethra…" Juno gasped.

"What?" Sethra said in mid stride.

"My car…get us to my car." He said pointing back towards the apartment complex.

"No Juno, the entire place is surrounded." Sethra said shaking her head. "Lets take that one!" She said pointing to the shiny black sports car.

"How Sethra, we don't have the keys." Juno protested.

"Leave that to me" she said as she closed her eyes. She glowed briefly and then the beeping of a car security system deactivating was heard. Then she simply opened the door. She sat Juno in the passenger seat and then sat in the driver's seat. "Ummm…Juno…" Sethra asked embarrassed.

"What is it Sethra? We need to get out of here fast!" Juno said impatiently.

"How do you drive?" Sethra said. Unfortunately there was little time for a driving lesson as the officers made their way to the vehicle.

"Just start it, put it in drive and go!" Juno screamed.

"Don't yell at me…that's not nice…" Sethra said looking like she was ready to cry. With that Juno reached over and started it and put it roughly into gear.

"Just step on that thing down there and steer with the wheel." Juno said.

Sethra smiled sheepishly and slammed on the accelerator bumping Juno's head into the dashboard. "That's what you get for yelling." Sethra said giggling as they sped off down the road away from the law. "Juno…where are we going to go now?"

Juno thought about it, and although he hated the thought of going back, he looked at her and said "Let's go to my mom's house…in Dusseldorf." With that they started off to find a way out of town towards Juno's childhood home. How ironic that she saved him despite the notion he was going to protect her. She didn't need protection at all. She was stronger than ten men. Sethra noticed the look on his face.

"Is something wrong Juno?" Sethra asked.

Juno looked embarrassed and asked "Why did you protect me."

Sethra smiled at him "Because…I want to stay with you Juno, I have to protect you."

Juno blushed and said "But I feel so weak…I was supposed to protect you."

Sethra looked at him warmly and said "But you did…you tried to…that's when I knew…"

Juno looked at her confused and asked "Knew what?"

Sethra looked back to the road and said "I knew…that I had to stay with you no matter what. Everything will alright Juno."

Juno nodded but disagreed "We still have to escape the city Sethra. The police will be looking for us, and even if they fail to find us, the check point for leaving the city will be under heavy surveillance now." Sethra simply nodded. "But…there is another way out." Juno said as he thought about the large drainage tunnels that ran out to the river from the city. "We could take the drainage tunnels, but we would have to swim…and I can't swim." Juno said frowning.

Sethra smiled and said "I have a better idea." She immediately laid a hard turn right and drove towards one of the city walls. The city walls had several gates in and out of the city. These gates were composed of 100ft tall, 3 feet thick steel gates. The particular one she pulled up to hadn't been used in ages, so naturally it was abandoned. Sethra stopped the car by the gate and got out. She walked up to the door leading to the control room and began pounding on it with her bare fists. The metal finally started buckling and eventually fell off its hinges. Juno looked more frightened than when she pulled his apartment door off its hinges. Sethra went into the control room and out of Juno's sight. After a couple moments the steel door started to move, setting off a very loud alarm. Sethra ran back out and fired up the car. "We need to go! They know we are here!"

"How!" Juno asked her.

"Well…I was pressing buttons and well I kinda hit this big red one that was under a glass thingy." Sethra said blushing obviously embarrassed.

"Oh crap…we will have the whole city barring down on us if we don't leave now!" Juno said nervously. As soon as the gate was open enough Sethra peeled out through the smallest opening scaring the bejesus out of Juno. They flew off down the road and saw flashing lights in the distance at the gate. For about a mile everything seemed fine. But to their despair they heard a heavy pounding of pavement. They looked back to see a Goliath mecha chasing their tiny vehicle. They were screwed…there was no way to fight back against this thing. The mecha swung its fist back preparing to crush their car. But suddenly a flash of light from the opposite direction of Neo Berlin lit up the sky. The sound barrier broke as a uranium slug sung through the air and pierced the Goliath. It flew back and landed with a crash. Then coming up the road they saw a small green jeep with a mammoth rail gun mounted to the back of it flying up the road towards Neo Berlin. Several others soon appeared over the horizon and followed it towards town. Apparently that red button also alerted them that one of the gates to the city was open. Juno looked at them in surprise and said "I never thought I would say this, but thank god for the extremists."

"Extremists?" Sethra asked.

"Yeah…they have some crazy conspiracy theory about the Bitri Corporation starting the war with America or something…they don't attack the people, only the Bitri corporation and their creations." Juno explained.

"So…they would want to kill me?" Sethra said upset.

"Don't worry Sethra, I won't let them hurt you…besides…we are in the country side now…no one is going to be looking for us." Juno said patting her head.

"Even though I am the one protecting you?" Sethra said laughing.

Juno then told her how to get to his old home in Dusseldorf. The trip was long, and they almost ran out of gas. Nobody and nothing lived out here anymore. So it was going to be a one way trip. Not like the extremists would give them gas.

They arrived at his home. It was exactly the way he left it. He had cleaned it up before he left, even cleaning the rugs and furniture. It almost hurt to be here, but atleast he wasn't alone. They entered his house, and strangely Sethra stopped dead in her tracks. Juno looked over at her and asked "What's wrong?" When he looked at her though, he noticed something was very, very different. Her hair was soft like a human, and her eyes were now moist and shining.

Sethra responded, "I know this place…"


	4. Chapter 4

**Loveless 0- Chapter 4: _Melancholy Homecoming_**

As he entered the darkened house, Juno looked at Sethra confushed after she said she knew this place. "What did you say Sethra?" Juno asked.

Sethra looked back at Juno, her eyes regaining their inhuman sharpness. "What Juno?"

Juno even more confused asked "You just said you knew this place."

Sethra looked confused and said "I did?"

Juno walked further into the house and said "Yes, you did. Maybe I just misunderstood you. Anyways, we should be safe here." Juno stopped suddenly in mid step as he approached the kitchen.

Sethra noticed and asked him "What's wrong Juno?" She saw him trembling with agony. "Juno! What is it?"

Juno began to softly cry as he sank to his knees. "Why did I come back here?" He looked to the kitchen and imagined where he found his mother dead. "My mother…was slumped over in the corner over there by the stove. She was cooking dinner for the three of us. You were coming over that evening."

"I was?" Sethra asked as she walked up behind Juno. "What happened to me?"

"You…you and the rest of the women in Neo-Berlin died on the same day. The Americans attacked us and every female died. They did it just to torture us." Juno said as he tried to retain his composure.

"I died? But why am I here?" Sethra asked.

"Because you aren't her…you can't be Sethra." Juno said solemnly. "You look like her…but you're just an android."

Sethra despite being a machine looked sad "But Juno…I thought you said…"

Juno quickly came to his senses and cut her off "I know…I did. Don't misunderstand me…I am happy to have you with me. After all I do call you Sethra don't I? It's just strange staring someone in the face who isn't who I think they are."

Sethra was speechless. "You can accept me despite the fact I'm a machine?"

Juno looked at her through teary eyes "I can't afford to lose you again." Juno then hugged onto her tightly. Then he turned to go into the kitchen. "Lets make something to eat…" Sethra stopped him mid sentence by tugging away from the kitchen.

"Juno…" Sethra said softly.

"What is it Sethra, we can make something to eat…there's got to be something in the kitchen somewhere…it's all exactly as I left it."

"Juno…it's late…why don't you go lay down and I'll figure out what this thing you call cooking is." Sethra said smiling.

Juno was tired and they had been rudely awakened back in Neo Berlin so early in the morning, so Juno had to agree. And although this place was filled with bad memories he felt more comfortable here…hopefully they couldn't find them here. He walked down the hall to the room that had been his. His bed still lay there just as he left it. It was covered in dust like the rest of the house. But it was still the same to him. He shook the dust from the sheets that were still on the bed and laid down to rest. He wondered what Sethra was going to cook. It was fortunate that they had a wood stove, since the electricity went out long ago. Technology had fortunately rendered refrigerators useless. Meat and other items were stored in hermetically sealed containers that kept the meat fresh for years. Juno had always wondered why his mom would use this technology, but insist on using a wood stove. She had always said that relying on technology too much for cooking took the love out of cooking, and Juno agreed. Food cooked in Super Nova brand microwaves tasted generic…although having meat cooked in all of 3 seconds was nice. Juno closed his eyes to rest shortly while Sethra cooked.

It was about 4 in the morning as Sethra managed to find a couple of cook books. The books contained recipes on different dishes, but no instructions on how to cook them. The recipes talked about things like bowls, pots and pans, but sadly Sethra's programming contained no information about these things. The only thing she understood was that to cook food you had to heat it up. Sethra managed to start a rather large fire in the wood stove and found the only thing still sealed in the cabinets below, something called "Grosses Mittagessen-Laib" (roughly translated "Big Lunch Loaf"). The sealed can contained a slimy slab of meat. Sethra didn't see any recipes calling for this "Big Lunch Loaf" so she simply shrugged her shoulders and threw it into the fire.

Juno woke to thick smoke filling the house. Juno sprung from his bed wondering what was going on. "Sethra! Are you okay? Sethra?" Juno screamed as he ran out into the kitchen. He beheld Sethra cupping her hands around an egg while holding it over the fire. The ceiling was blackened from whatever was burning in the stove, which was belching flames anyways. "Sethra? What are you doing?"

Sethra peeked up and said "Oh, just making you some…well I was making big lunch loaf, but the stove kinda…well destroyed it. But look I made you an egg!" She said triumphantly holding up a scrambled egg with broken egg fragments in it.

"I thought you were programmed for this kind of thing?" Juno asked trying not to laugh.

"Well…the XX series usually is programmed for this kind of thing…in fact the directory is in my data banks, but the files aren't there." Sethra said embarrassed.

"I wonder if that is what they meant by you being defective." Juno thought out loud.

"Defective? Are you going to throw me away Juno?" Sethra asked with a look of fear in her eyes.

"Huh? Oh no Sethra…I was just remembering what the polzei were saying…they said they had come to claim a defective unit." Juno said in a gentle voice.

"Oh…well I feel defective…parts of my programming are missing…but there are also pieces of programming that shouldn't be there." Sethra said with a sigh.

"Like what?" Juno said with a burst of interest.

"Well like right now, when I look at you…I feel something…I don't have words to describe it…but it's a good feeling. Like my face is warm or something." Sethra said visibly blushing.

"Sure that's not part of your sexual programming?" Juno asked smirking.

"No no…to be quite honest…my programming just tells me how to do it…what movements to make, what noises to make, what positions…" Sethra said on and on before Juno interrupted.

"I get it, I get it…but what you're saying is you feel something that can't exactly be put into programming or words." Juno said a little flushed.

"Yeah, you could say that…but there's other things…like when I went to start cooking, I knew right where your cookbooks were." Sethra said then turning her head to look out the back door. Sethra immediately looked somewhat softer in the moonlight as she looked into the backyard. "Juno?"

"Yes?" Juno replied.

"Didn't there used to be a tall white fence out back…with one loose picket that I used to sneak in through?" Sethra said.

"What? How did you know that?" Juno asked absolutely shocked.

Sethra's face was what you would expect from someone who was about to cry as she said "I don't know Juno…I feel like I have a virus of some sort in my memory banks, but the virus scan comes up with nothing. Am I defective Juno? Should I go away?"

Juno's face went pale as he grabbed her quickly beginning to cry "No! You're not defective…maybe…maybe you are Sethra? There is no way you could have known that…unless I told you and I didn't right?" Sethra simply shook her head. "Sethra, you are obviously more than an android…I won't let them take you from me. No…not again." Juno could imagine swear he saw a tear running down her face as he said this. Sethra couldn't say anything. Sethra simply turned around. Juno then said, "Well for now, perhaps we should put this fire out." Juno said then looking to the growing blaze in the wood stove. "By the way, just for future reference…about the lunch loaf…"

"You never did like it did you?" Sethra giggled.

"You're right…I didn't." Juno said once again stupefied.

Sethra smiled and said "Why don't you go back to sleep, and I will take care of this?"

Juno looked at her smile…that smile closely resembled the smile that used to melt his heart so much. The only difference was the sharper more mechanical eyes, pale skin, and sharp features of her android face. But none the less he nodded and walked back to his room.

After Juno had left the room her smile quickly faded as she dropped to her knees and started to shutter and cry. She quickly looked to her body shuttering and clasped her own arm trying to calm the tremors of her crying. She also quickly noticed the wet tears falling from her face. "What is happening? What is this feeling? Why am I leaking and shaking? I must be breaking…Juno's wrong I am defective. But what should I do? This virus is causing me to act strange…but it makes master happy…so I should embrace it." Sethra in shambles walked over to the couch after standing up and put the cook book back on the shelf next to it. The book right next to it on the shelf was a book simply labeled "Foto Album". She felt compelled to take it from the shelf. As she opened the pages and looked at the first pictures, she felt once again the feeling she felt before. The pain of remembering something she never thought she could. Although her programming told her this feeling was a virus, she embraced it for Juno's sake. He seemed happy the more she acted like Sethra and the more she seemed to remember. She sat down and turned the pages and the "virus" in Sethra's memory banks began to grow…


End file.
